Take Me Away
by Hooloovooshift-Speedster
Summary: Spitfire. What if Artemis was harboring a crush on Wally before they met in Infiltraitor? What would her idealised version be like?
1. Before They Met

Old dreams die a slow painful death…

_Just take me away from this life. Let's run away together; take me away from here. I want to be anywhere, anyplace else._

It was an old dream of hers, a reoccurring one. One, that Artemis thought she would never have again. She met the real Kid Fla-Wally… the person behind the persona. It _should_ have displaced the fantasy. They fought, he didn't know her past. Frankly, the dream might have been the _easier_ path, but this was the **right** one. It was like seeking permission from life for her to be a hero, rather than asking forgiveness and reforming.

In Bialya a small, microscopic part of her was _**swooning**_ like a lovesick maiden, in a reenactment of one of the stories of medieval knights and chivalry. The dream; the dreams she had for the past few years, were _finally_ coming to fruition. He was more _charming_ and courteous than any fantasized knight. He didn't call her worthless, like her father. Instead he called her _**Beautiful**_. He swept her off her feet and he gave her the feeling of being protected. She didn't have the need to be defensive. It was a foreign feeling to her…

The _closest_ experience she had to that feeling was when she was much younger. Her mom and dad were quite busy when she was little, entrusting Jade with her younger sister. One of the many fondly reminisced activities was reading "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" and creating whole new stories for Alice and the Cheshire cat.

When mom got injured, she took the fall, to **protect** her family. Artemis felt disoriented, unsettled, _**exposed**_. Mom wasn't there to look out for her. She wouldn't tell Dad he had gone too far, gently remind him that: although his girls needed to be strong… they were still his girls and needed love too. It _always _sucked, being left with Dad for extended periods of time, if Mom had solo work.

...

So Jade, thirteen year old Jade, left. She abandoned her little sister. Artemis had to create her own fantasy, erect her own walls. The Cheshire cat sulked into the encompassing arms of the Shadows, leaving a little lost Alice in her wake. All the previous support she had was stripped away from her leaving a frightened child to her dad's mercy.

Her dad… her dad was not mature enough to raise a child on his own. He was not gentle enough or loving enough. He _needed_ reminders of how to treat a daughter. But no one was left to remind him.

So, although he loved her, it was not the love that Artemis _**needed**_, it did not breed feelings of reciprocation. He did not have his wife to curb his sadism. A hand, a voice raised to halt his rage, to guide it along a more constructive path.

So when a father **should** have been raising a **daughter**… he instead was **training** a _mercenary_. Every aspect of his life controlled with an iron grip. A force on her soul, it twisted and compressed causing microscopic fractures.

Artemis **logically** knew that it was his way of showing his love. The long _brutal_ training sessions, the **harsh** life lessons were his _hugs_ and bedtime stories. She knew this **logically**, but her heart _longed_ for something **more**, something _substantial_. He tried to teach her the **joy** of all of his weapons, the _euphoria_of the kill. There was only **one** weapon that spoke to her: the _graceful_ bow with its singing arrows.

Her dad _reluctantly_ let her **settle** on this **one **weapon. But **enforced** **mandatory** martial arts lessons, attending classes at the Y and overseeing her advanced instruction. He taught her everything he knew about the bow, and helped her find a path where she would learn more. When Artemis cleanly killed a 12 point buck that hunting season he cried tears of joy. She didn't **know** what she felt when the arrow _slid _past the ribs and **tore **through its heart. She _still_ doesn't.

...

When **Robin** showed up during the third year of her mother's sentence she thought little of it, a smidge of admiration as an afterthought. Artemis's admiration grew when she realized someone younger than her was accomplishing something _exponentially_ more dangerous, without any meta-human powers, so she made respectful observations. Keeping a wary eye on **Speedy** was more… professional courtesy. **Aqualad**… well at that point why not?

**Kid Flash**… he was _different_, he was visible, unreserved, he was vivacious in a grim world, a desirable contrast to her depressing situation, he didn't internalize problems, they were things to be resolved and forgotten in favor of focusing on the next one, he didn't get **entrapped** in his thoughts, he denied the cruelty of reality and replaced it with an idealistic paradigm, he was a symbol to her, a message that her life _could _be different.

He was **one** of the catalysts for her decision that she should use her abilities in _opposition_ to her father's ideals. That hope **enabled** her to choose her own path in life. In an odd way, he was her white rabbit _**long**_ before she even saw Superboy.

The newscasts and paper clippings distracted her throughout some really **dark** patches; they shored up the walls _encircling_ her heart. Artemis's sole outlet for her emotions was her weekly letter to her mom. There was the time her father realized that she wouldn't kill an innocent, the one he discovered it was distasteful to her to kill whatsoever and outright refused, or the _**countless**_ times he tried to convince her to participate in some form of depravity or another.

Kid Flash's optimism, the heroes' major battles, and their minor acts of charity pushed her through her dad's punishment. The hope he produced was a spot of warmth, of _weakness_ in Artemis's otherwise cold, dreary and **solitary** fortress, built to **protect** her _fragile_ emotional state.

...

With a wry and wistful smirk, Artemis recalled when on the public broadcast station, she caught him lecturing to a bunch of elementary school kids on science: "_Challenge everything. Don't let others' preconceptions inhibit your perspective. Make your own observations, draw your own conclusions._"

It was ironic that **particular** piece of advice was one she took to heart. It was a keystone to her fortress; it helped sift through who could be _trusted_ and who couldn't. A **core** facet of her personality, it became an ingrained habit to challenge the limits that her father and society placed. But, that advice **also** made Artemis fumble when they met in person, a challenge she _really_ didn't wish to make.

So she met him, the dynamic changed. She saw Jade and she decided she wouldn't couldn't didn't _**need **_anyone. Bialya shifted their dynamic again; it gave a _slim_ chance for her fantasy to live, **temporarily**. But it wasn't meant to be. Artemis moved on and although the ninja boyfriend crack made her internally _smirk_, she was lost and couldn't predict where this new direction the dynamic was headed in. That night her dream made what she believed to be its final encore.

Artemis's brain **displaced** the fantasy of a rescuer with the _reality_ of a **brother** and a **teammate**. It is amazing what **neroplasticity** can do. But there still were the well traveled paths _underneath_ the new ones, waiting _patiently_ to reemerge. For some trauma, weakness, to pounce on like a ravenous tiger, taking the most opportune strike.

He _couldn'_t accept that magic was real; Kaldur used it every time they fought. **Seriously**! Then he lied to the both of them when he gave some trumped up explanation about beta waves when she asked about the Helmet of Fate. For some reason it **seriously** irritated her. Everything can be explained and compartmentalized. **Yeah, **_**right**_. She was going to **challenge** his _preconceptions_ alright, even if it reached **deafening **decibels.

* * *

><p>Fairly safe to assume I don't own and will never own Young Justice. Part 2 is taking a while but will feature the dream and many of the episodes. This was my interpretiation of the throwaway line in Downtime about Kid Flash being on the news.<p> 


	2. Dream a Little Dream of Me

So this originally was supposed to be split into two parts and elsewhere it probably will be but people are actually waiting for an update here…. So I caved and decided to post the dream sequence that kept getting referenced so that I have something to base the interaction of Homefront-Secrets off of. Short little story, stop being an invasive species. Also: It may be in question if we as humans ever own anything. But I don't own Young Justice. And frankly it's in better hands.

* * *

><p><em>She was perched on a rooftop, occupying a sniper's vantage point. Balanced, poised to string an arrow if need be, waiting for the signal. Crouched, humming with tension in an odd juxtaposition of taut and relaxed. <em>

_Sulking on a Metropolis rooftop being an accessory to homicide, was SO not how she wanted to spend her Friday night. The scuff of a foot behind her, followed shortly after by a contrary breeze triggered her defenses. Preconditioning caused her to cautiously turn around, while trying to reveal as few tells as possible._

_"It's a Friday night. What is a lovely girl like you doing in a place like this? I mean, this is the city of tomorrow," he paused. _

_"Surely, someone as ahead of the curve as you has somewhere better to be? Although, I do believe in free-will, so if you do want to grace dreary gritty rooftops for fun, you can."_

_"Seriously? I'm dressed like this and you're hitting on me?" Wry disbelief colored her voice._

_"Guilty as charged beautiful," he replied giving a wide warm grin._

_"Are you that stupid or just that hormonal?" she retorted._

_"Technically I'm a certified genius so option A isn't feasible. I guess, I'm feeling the dopamine," he shrugged nonchalantly._

_Artemis rolled her eyes. "Seriously, for a hero you don't seem to be all that concerned with catching the bad guys," she scoffed._

_"You can't be all that bad," he smirked "I mean someone as intelligent as you seem to be would realise that she's too smart to stay with the side that treats her like crap." Kid Flash gave his most reassuring grin._

_"And what makes you think that the goody-two shoes in capes and tights would treat me any better than what I currently receive?" She shifted into a defensive posture._

_"Well for one, I'm one of those 'goody two shoes in tights', for another we actually care what happens to people on our side, also we have this amazing concept called a no-kill policy." he counted off the points on his fingers._

_"Okay those are lovely and oh so idealistic points. But my trust is hard won and I want proof I'll be safe so catch me," she smirked challengingly and lept._

_He raced hoping to meet her at the bottom only to hear her mocking laugh echoing from above. Rooftop tag, Robin taught him the basics and he could tell as he raced that she was good very good, so he had to be better. He had to surprise her do the unexpected. So he stopped and observed. He then carefully planned his ambush while still pursuing her._

_This game it was serious, it wasn't supposed to be this fun she wasn't supposed to let go and enjoy it. Adrenaline raced through her veins embroiling with endorphins to make a potent combination. When he pounced on her she struggled and then slyly used her hormonal urges to create a diversion._

_But kissing him. Was like the combination of two opposing charges in a storm pure lighting, nothing but this burning electricity, no thought, no stillness, and suddenly gone, she looked up into his green eyes... _and woke up.


	3. Variation on a Dream

_Lazy ending is lazy, but this needed to be finished._

* * *

><p>After the Reds she clearly remembers fighting with dream Wally over the fact that her mom was too a hero. They tore the safety of the cave away from her and the safety of her dreams but she'd still fight to protect her real family.<p>

After India she dreamed of training with her father, of drowning, of being abandoned by the team for her past. She woke up extremely irritated.

After the Injustice League incident Artemis dreamt of fighting, and having Wally's back, of her father wrenching her bow from her hands, and using it to make Wally's arm break with a nauseating crack.

Artemis was too tired to dream after the Red Volcano incident.

After the simulation the dream recurred due to stress. But, in its second iteration she was invisible to him. Then he told her it was all her fault for setting off M'gann.

That night Artemis confessed to dream Wally why she was afraid of admitting her heritage, and he hugged her.

On November first she woke up panting. In her dream Wally had restrained her from attacking her sister after what she had done to M'gann and Zatanna. On November first Artemis woke crying.

After the magical incident which divided adults and parents into separate worlds Artemis dreamed of losing her mother.

After the fight at the ice castle she dreamed of Wally dying of hypothermia while running back to the cave.

Artemis couldn't remember her dream on thanksgiving. She however woke with the feeling of warmth and love.

Artemis's mind looped what Wally had said over and over. Insecure and Selfish. That night her sleep was restless.

The train had lulled her to sleep, yet still Wally's previous words nagged at her.

Artemis slept peacefully after admitting her secrets to the team and defeating her father.

On New Year's she didn't need that old worn dream anymore. She had reality.


End file.
